


Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

by morbid_solemn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Snow, Winter, funny steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 16:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15513897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbid_solemn/pseuds/morbid_solemn
Summary: Anon: "Hi! Can I request a Steve Rogers fic where they're practically a couple, but Steve doesn't want to ruin their friendship and reader overhears him talk about how much he loves the reader? If that makes sense, thank you!"





	Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

**Author's Note:**

> To request a fic, please visit http://morbidsolemn.tumblr.com/ask

Your feet were propped up on the desk as you stared blankly at the papers in your lap. You glanced over at the whiteboards on the walls of your office, and when your mind continued to blank, you looked over to your computer monitors. You groaned, leaned forward and dropped your feet to the ground. Dragging your feet over to the first board, you peered closely at your work. You studied every integral, every partial differential, especially the basic arithmetic.

“I need to sit,” you muttered, grabbing your chair. You leaned back, placing your feet carefully on the marker tray that bordered the whiteboard. Tapping a marker against your chin, you continued to recheck your work. Your attention was directed solely to the whiteboard, so you failed to notice your office door opening.

“Hey, Y/N,” Steve said as he walked in. You jumped in your seat, letting out a small scream, leaned back a little too far, and ended up on the ground. Steve did what he thought was right and proceeded to laugh. “Okay, I got you this time, admit it.” Standing over you, he offered you his hand.

“Ugh, you’re like a fucking cat.” You said, grabbing his hand. “What time is it?”

Steve turned his wrist and glanced at his watch. “It’s 7:13. I know I said I’d be here around 6:00, but they pulled this surprise debriefing on me.”

“That’s no excuse,” you sighed, picking up your coat and tote bag. “You can’t leave me here that long waiting for you to pick me up.”

“Would you rather I walk into a mission completely blindsided?” Steve leaned against the wall, dangerously close to your whiteboard.

“Hey,” you pointed to the whiteboard as you put on your coat. “Don’t smudge my work,” you said, seriously. You walked up to him, sliding your arm through his as the two of you walked out of the office. “As opposed to what,” you continued your conversation, “you picking me up late?” You scoffed. “You’d figure it out. See, that’s the great thing about you, Steve. You’re not just ridiculously good-looking, you’re also fairly smart.” He held the door open for you as you exited the building, and as the snowflakes touched your hair, he offered his arm again.

“’Fairly smart’?” He looked down at you with a smile.

“Well, yeah, Steve. I mean,” you continued in a hushed voice in mock secrecy, “You’re talking to someone with a Ph.D.” Steve laughed. As the two of you walked to curb, Steve’s motorcycle came into view. You immediately pulled away and stared at him. “Steve, it’s snowing!”

He paused to look around. “Gosh, it’s snowing?” He deadpanned, as you titled your head in annoyance. “So that’s what this white stuff is! C’mon, it’s freezing, let’s go.” He moved closer to his bike and removed two helmets from the compartment. He offered one to you.

You folded your arms. “I’m not getting on.” He placed the helmets on the bike and turned to you. There was a mischievous look on Steve’s face and his arms were out. Your eyes widened, “Don’t.” He moved closer to you and he was dangerously close to picking you up. “Okay, okay,” you squeaked. You groaned and put on the helmet. “I hate you,” you said getting on after Steve. You wrapped your arms tightly around his relatively narrow waist. You considered that the sole benefit of his bike.

“No, you don’t,” Steve replied, before starting the engine and taking off. The icy wind whipped past you and you pressed your head forward against Steve’s back. He inhaled sharply at the contact and drove just a little bit faster.

***

Steve unlocked the door to his apartment and opened the door for you. You walked in and Steve handed you his coat. After hanging your coats in the closet by the door and placing your tote bag on the coffee table, you joined Steve on the couch. You pulled off your boots and wiggled your toes.

“I told you those shoes were too small for you.” Steve chided. The first time you wore them, the two of you had gone to an orchard in Warwick. Admittedly, your feet did hurt, but when Steve asked, you shrugged it off. Now, however, you decided to come clean.

“I know, but they’re so cute, and they didn’t have it in my actual size. I didn’t think that half a size down could be such a pain in the ass.”

“If they’re a pain in the ass, I don’t think you’re wearing them correctly,” Steve smirked. You rolled your eyes.

“What’re we doing for dinner? I’m starving.” You got off the couch and pulled your laptop out of your bag. You continued to search for your HDMI cable.

“I ordered Chinese before I picked you up. It should be here soon.” Steve replied, stretching out on the couch.

You finally found the cable and walked over to his television with the cable and your laptop in hand. “I’ve got the perfect movie. It’s snowing, and it’s December, so Christmas movies are completely justifiable.” You pulled up The Polar Express on your laptop and connected the HDMI cable. You sat down on the couch and laid against Steve, his hands settling around you. “I used to watch this movie at least five times every December.”

“Looks like we’ve got to fit it in four more times in the next three weeks.” Steve joked and you smiled up at him. The Polar Express had just stopped outside of Billy’s house when a knock sounded on Steve’s door. The two of you turned to look at each other, and as Steve leaned forward, you used your position on top of him to push him down against the couch. He fell back onto the couch, blinking in confusion, as you grabbed your purse from the table and raced to the front door. You threw forty dollars at the delivery man, grabbed the food, and persuaded him to run, before slamming the door shut and turning around.

“Ha!” You yelled in victory. “I told you I’d get it next time!”

“You really wanted to pay for dinner that badly?” Steve chuckled. “I’ve never seen you move that fast.”

“Every time we go out, you just have to pay, and I never do! I feel terrible about it!” Steve laughed as you placed the bag on the table and placed the various items on the table. The movie continued, and after you two were done eating, Steve was holding you against his chest again. You watched the movie with a quiet excitement; you had seen the movie countless times before, but the animation, the music, the story, had all stayed fresh and entertaining to you. Steve, however, had found something more interesting to watch: you.

***

The snow continued to fall outside, but the movie had ended. Steve looked down to see you sleeping and felt himself smile at your peaceful form. He twisted his body, held you in his arms bridal-style, and carried you to his bed. He laid you down and pulled the covers over you, leaving a small kiss on your forehead. He turned to go quickly, as the red blush covered his features, completely missing the small smile that settled over your lightly sleeping face.

The next morning, the sunlight came through the windows brilliantly, reflecting off of the snow and thereby doubling its intensity. You turned and rubbed your eyes. You realized this was Steve’s bedroom and called out to the apartment: “Steve?”

“In the kitchen!” He answered. You groaned and pushed yourself out of his bed with newfound motivation. “I bet he’s in there making coffee, like the no-good, too-good, nice person he is!” you thought as you marched into the kitchen. What you hadn’t expected was him to be flipping pancakes with a spread of fruit, maple syrup, coffee, and orange juice, already on the breakfast bar.

“Steve, what the hell?!” You cried with your arms spread at your side. He turned around, spatula in hand, confusion written on his face. “You let me sleep here, in your bed, and then you make me breakfast?”

“I’m missing something, aren’t I?” He asked slowly.

“Yeah, you’re missing the asshole gene that everyone I know carries.” You sighed, pulling two plates, two mugs, and two glasses from the cupboard next to Steve. You carried the dishes and utensils to the table. “Why are you so nice? It’s crazy! How do you stand it?”

“I don’t know,” Steve shrugged. “I just enjoy doing nice things for nice people.”

“Ugh,” you shivered. “I don’t think I could handle being this nice.” You paused. “Did you call me nice? Because I’m not. I’m a mean person.”

“If you say so,” Steve joked.

“Yeah, I do say so!” You retorted and Steve shook his head. ”This is the person I’m in love with,” he thought to himself.

***

After dropping you off at S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve returned to the Avengers Tower. The mission he had been briefed for the day earlier wouldn’t be for another two days, and so the next two days would be composed of training. Today, Steve had to clear the operatives of this mission. Steve watched the four operatives spar in pairs. One operative, Kelley, blocked a punch with her forearm, but her partner, Donaldson, grabbed her arm, turned around with her behind him, and threw her over his shoulder. She rolled into the toss, and came back up, pushing forward with a punch that Donaldson blocked. However, he didn’t notice her leg sweep underneath him; he lost his balance and a roundhouse kick to his throat landed him on the ground.

“Donaldson, if you underestimate to your opponent, you’re never gonna win. No one’s gonna come at you with just a punch. Kelley, that kick was well executed, but unnecessary. He had already lost his balance. A quick jab would have been just as effective. When you’re in the field, you don’t need to show off. You just need to win.” Steve dealt out his advice clearly. They nodded and continued. He glanced at the clock. After 20 minutes, he dismissed the operatives. He left the sparring room and sighed when he ran into Bucky in the hallway.

“Little late this morning?” Bucky smirked, walking alongside Steve.

“I wasn’t that late.”

“Please tell it’s because you were with her.” Bucky pleaded. When his friend hesitated to answer, he glanced at Steve’s face. “You were! Oh man, tell me she spent the night!”

“She did, but we didn’t-”

“Fuck.”

“Buck!” Steve felt his face warm and he knew that he looked like a tomato. “I don’t know what to do,” Steve admitted, falling into a seat in the lounge area.

“What’s there to do? Just tell her how you feel.” Bucky explained, sitting down beside his friend. Steve buried his face in his hands

“I can’t just walk up to her and tell her I love her.”

“Do you not really love her?” Bucky questioned. Steve looked up at his friend.

“Of course I do.”

“Then why the hell can’t you tell her?”

“Because the moment I see her, my heart stops. When I try to talk to her, the breath rushes out of my lungs. When I touch her,” Steve paused, “I feel like I’m on fire. I can’t do it.”

“You’re afraid,” Bucky concluded.

“I’m not afraid. I shouldn’t feel like this. It should be easy. It should be easy to tell her how I feel. How she makes me feel.”

“That stuff has nothing to do with you talking to her. That’s love.” Bucky sighed. “The only way this gets better is if you talk to her.”

Unbeknownst to the two men, you were walking up to the lounge area as they spoke. “I’m totally gonna get you, Steve. Get ready to get fucking pranked, Rogers” You thought.

“I know, Buck.” Steve pushed himself up. “I’m gonna tell Y/N that I love her.” His words carried out of the room to where you were standing. “I just pranked myself.” You thought. Steve left the lounge and bumped into you. His blush grew exponentially, passing tomato level within seconds. “Y/N! What’re you doing here?!” He exploded in embarrassment.

“I wanted to pay you back for scaring the shit out of me yesterday!” You replied, in equal volume.

“How much of that did you hear?!”

“I don’t know! Why are we yelling?!”

Steve sighed. He took a moment to regain his composure and began, “Can we talk?”

“Yeah, of course.” You answered, allowing him to lead you into the lounge. Bucky stumbled back from beside the wall where he had been listening to you two.

“I’ll uh, I’ll get outta your hair.” He smiled sheepishly. You watched Bucky leave and then you turned to Steve.

“You wanna sit?” Steve asked.

“Sure,” you said, sitting down. He joined you, attempted to speak, and then stood up again.

“Um,” He began to pace the room, nervously rubbing his neck. You had decided to give him some time to speak his mind, but as he struggled to explain, you interjected.

“Steve, I heard you talking to Bucky.” You said it softly, but simply. He stopped pacing and looked at you.

“How much did you hear?” He asked slowly.

“Say it to me.” You looked at him.

“What?” He stared at you.

“Say it.” You stepped closer to him. He looked down at you, and that was all he needed.

“I love you,” he whispered. You placed your hands behind his neck and pulled him down to you as you stood on your toes. You kissed him softly, but passionately, and his hands found their way to your hips. He deepened the kiss, pulling you even closer to him, as your fingers tugged his hair. You pulled away, breathless.

“I love you, too.” A smile stretched across Steve’s face and soon one was on yours as well.

“Yes! Yes!” Bucky exclaimed, walking back into the room, clapping at you two. “Yes!” he whisper-cheered. Steve groaned as you laughed.

“What’s with the cheering?” Sam poked his head into the room.

“Steve finally said it.” Bucky turned to Sam.

“Oh, yeah!” Sam walked in, clapping. “That’s right!”

“Wait a second,” you looked up at Steve. “How long has this-”

“Nope, no, not happening, let’s go,” he said, grabbing your hand, and leading you out of the room. You turned to Sam and Bucky, raised your hand to your ear and mimed a phone while mouthing “call me.” Bucky nodded and Sam mouthed “for sure.” You smiled and caught up with Steve. You continued to hold his hand as you walked while also putting your other hand on his forearm to pull yourself even closer.

“Why did you wait so long?” You asked. “Because I wouldn’t have answered with anything other than ‘I love you’, you know.”

“I was afraid it would ruin what we have.” He answered and the two of you continued to walk out of the building.

“You thought that us being in a relationship would ruin our friendship?”

“Well, yeah!”

“Are you kidding? You already pick me up after work, I-I basically live at your apartment, and guess what, moron: movie night is date night.”

Steve blinked. “Oh my god,” he replied in realized. “So nothing would change?”

“Well, I mean, there’d be more kissing and making out and sex and stuff, but nothing has to change if you don’t want it to.”

Steve didn’t even need a moment to consider it. “I’m fine with all of that.” He turned to you. “And hey,” he smiled. “When you stay overnight, I can still sleep in my bed.”

“Mm,” you hummed, “I would not mind that.”


End file.
